House of the Prophet: Devotion to Muhammad in Islamic Mysticism

Devotion to the Prophet of Islam has been an essential component of Islam since its earliest days. The Muslim “Statement of Faith” is testimony both that God exists and that Muhammad is His Messenger. Muhammad is considered “the perfect man” whose life, most Muslims believe, should be copied to the greatest extent possible, down to the smallest details possible. From early on, and over the ensuing centuries, a “prophetology” developed such that Muhammad’s role in human life was understood as essential not just during his physical time on earth in the 6th and early 7th centuries, but even before the creation of the first man, Adam, and it remains so until the end of the world. Significant clarity and explanation of the Prophet’s role in Islamic spirituality was added by the 13th century Sufi mystic Ibn Arabi, often called “al-Shaykh al-Akbar,” the Greatest of Teachers. In this book Claude Addas traces the development of Muhammad’s role in mystical thought, especially through the writings of Sufi masters and with a special focus on the influence of Ibn Arabi. She looks into concepts like the “Muhammadan Way” and “Muhammadan Reality,” and ends with a discussion of who― according to Muslim, and especially Sufi, thinkers and Ibn Arabi― should be understood as belonging to the “ House of the Prophet” ― the ahl al-bayt.